Crash Landing
by DearSweetPapercut
Summary: This is the sequel to "Dear Ziva" so thank you to everyone who read/reviewed that! "How is she Jethro?" He inquired about Ziva with concern. Gibbs glanced at him, a look with which no words were needed.
1. Chapter 1

I want to thank all of you that read/reviewed Dear Ziva. So here is the sequel and I really hope you like it :D

Sorry this is rather short, it's just a bit of an introduction to the whole thing, setting the scene and introducing a new case!

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of these characters

**Crash Landing: Part 1**

Ziva had drunk too much and she knew it, she could hear her heartbeat in her head and her vision was slowly blurring. She stood up took a deep breath and smiled goodbye at the barmaid. It was raining by now; she made her way to her car. Leaning on the car she looked up at the cloudy night sky. Taking in a breath of fresh air and allowing the rain to soak her through. She was too drunk to drive, and looking around she realised it would be an even worse idea trying to walk home in this state. Pulling out her phone Ziva searched her mind for the number of a cab company; she double checked the name of the bar and waited to be picked up. She was going to have to get up extra early tomorrow to pick up her car, she groaned to herself at the thought of waking up with a hangover. The cab pulled up, she climbed in to the back seat telling the cab driver her address.

Ziva closed her eyes as they pulled out of the car park; they began to drive through seats, Ziva watched the few people on the pavement. But the passing street lamps made her dizzy forcing her to close her eyes. The car dramatically halted. Ziva seemed to sober as she opened her eyes to see what had happened. Rain was still falling heavily onto the windscreen, without the wipers on vision was almost impossible. Ziva stepped out of the passenger door to see what had happened.

There on the road lay a man, his body being soaked through with rain, his arms and legs contorted.


	2. Chapter 2

It's two in the morning I really should go to sleep...damn insomnia...took the time to update this though : -)

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of these characters

**Crash Landing: Part 2**

The cab driver had called the police and an ambulance his voice was frantic and high pitched as he explained that how out of nowhere a man had appeared in front of his taxi. A man, whom he had hit, and was now on the floor unconscious or even worse dead, Ziva sat at the side of the road her hands in her head nursing a migraine. A police officer was bound to ask for an account of what had happened. And as she sat she hoped the cold night air and rain would sober her enough for her speech to make sense. But unfortunately she felt hysterical she wished to laugh. How things had turned out, she thought bitterly.

"Miss could you plea- wait...Ziva is that you?" McGee's voice came from a meter away; he stood in his gear with a worried expression. Ziva looked up at him her eyes clouded with attempts at remembering and a sleepy smile.

"Ah, McGee." She attempted to stand up but suddenly her heels gave way and she stumbled or rather fell into McGee's arms. He continued to look worried and helping Ziva stand up as straight as she could he began looking for Gibbs. "Where are we going?" she asked him in a childish voice. McGee had reached as far as Tony before Ziva had collapsed into his arms again. She let a hand to his face and began carefully stroking his cheek. "He's handsome isn't he? He's handsome don't you think?" tuning to Tony for an answer.

"What is this McCrazy?" he said firmly pointing at Ziva. McGee sighed pulling Ziva back so she was standing again. By now it was clear to see the tears rolling down her cheeks.

"She was in the back of the cab." He informed Tony. "She's drunk."

"Don't you think I can see that? McStupid? Do something!" he said wandering off. McGee placed Ziva down, fishing a bottle of water out of his bag. He handed it to her and rushed to catch up with Tony.

"We've got to tell him." He said in a slightly scared voice.

"I know." Tony had calmed a bit, but his mood now was one of worry. Ziva wasn't okay, she said she was, she pretended she was but he should have seen. He should have checked on her.

"Tony we've got to tell Gibbs now."

"Tell Gibbs what?" Gibbs appeared behind them almost making McGee jump out of his skin.

"Boss...the passenger in the cab...it's Ziva...and she's really drunk." He blurted out in response to Gibbs question while Tony gave him the evils. Gibbs turned on his heel and before either of them could say anything else he'd left.

Ziva looked up from the pavement, shoes, trousers, jacket...Gibbs. She felt like a 17 year old being caught after sneaking in at an obscene hour a little more than drunk. She braced herself for the lecture, or in Gibbs's case the smack on the head to come. But instead he sat himself down next to Ziva.

"What happened Zi?" he asked softening his voice. She looked at him and shook her head. She felt as if she was going to be sick. He put his arm around her shoulder pulling her in closer "We'll talk about this later." He muttered into her ear. To this she simply nodded. He gathered her up and almost carrying her took her to the van.

"McGee! Take her home, sober her up, bring her to the office." Gibbs simply instructed letting Ziva fall back into McGee's arms. He flashed Tony a glance and continued to survey the crime scene.

McGee helped Ziva with her seat belt hoping she wouldn't be sick. As they drove she fell asleep her head lolling but eventually pressing up against the cool glass of the passenger seat window. From worried eyes he watched her. She looked pale, exhausted and sick. She looked like everything but Ziva.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of these characters

**Crash Landing: Part 3**

Ducky was standing beside the body waiting for Gibbs to appear. He had a confused expression on his face.

"It's all very odd Jethro. There are no apparent consequences of being hit by a car. There is bruising but it's localised suggesting a fall. I've sent some blood up for a tox-screen to Abby; perhaps she'll be able to shed some light on what this young man died of. Because it certainly was not caused by being run over."

Gibbs nodded this expression now matching that of Ducky. "How is she Jethro?" He inquired about Ziva with concern. Gibbs glanced at him, a look with which no words were needed, he then turned on his heel and left to make this way up to Abby's lab.

Music was blaring as always, as Abby stood by her mass spectrometer egging it on. "Ah Gibbs." She said looking up, "I did the tox-screens Ducky asked me to. I found traces of an unknown substance. I did some research and it's a poison." Abby informed him. "Really makes you think...who is it making your drinks...I went to this amazing cocktail bar once, and you could have anything you wanted in them. Turns out a mix of all the fruits and liquors you can-" Abby turned around to find Gibbs had gone.

McGee had brought Ziva back to the office after doing his best to sober her up as Gibbs had told him. They waited in silence for Gibbs to appear. Beau was sitting at McGee's desk, every few moment she would pick up her phone and sigh.

"Can you please just stop doing that?" Tony snapped, in the last few hours his irritation had been building up.

"I'm waiting on a phone call." She informed him simply.

"I can see that! Just do it...less...like that..." he said looking at her out of the corner of his eye. The phone rang and without a seconds delay Beau snatched it up in her hand and stood up.

"I've been waiting for you." She said glancing at Tony as she said waiting. Moving swiftly passed his desk her voice soon became nothing more than a whisper. As Beau disappeared Gibbs walked in. He's look softened as she saw Ziva.

"What happened?" he asked her simply.

"I went out, was too drunk to drive so I left my car there, I called a cab. I waited about 10 minutes for it to get there. I climbed in. I must have fallen asleep. I woke up. We'd stopped. The driver was on the road. He was calling the police and an ambulance. I got up but I felt dizzy so I sat down on the curb." She carefully and slowly explained not wanting to miss anything out. Gibbs nodded and turned to McGee.

"He was an ex marine, honourably discharged. Lived a quiet life generally, however liked his drink. And got into a few bar brawls, nothing more than that. On the night of his death he was at this bar, till 12 pm." McGee informed a steely eyed Gibbs.

"I was there. That's the bar. That's where I was." Ziva said looking at Gibbs. See looked at the photo of the marine, silently taking in every detail of it. Clips of the previous night played in her mind, she recalled a guy offering to buy her a drink. "He offered to buy me a drink. He said he was waiting to meet someone."


	4. Chapter 4

Thank you for the reviews!

Sorry these chapters are short I've wanted them to be longer just been...it's hard to explain... I've just been an awful state these last few days...but not...if that makes any sense at all.

Also wondering what you guys thought of Beau, I really liked being able to incorporate my psychology into Dear Ziva hence her character.

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of these characters

**Crash Landing: Part 4**

"McGee you're with me! Tony, find out who he was meeting. Ziva trace his movements before he was in the bar." Gibbs told them. McGee followed at his heel attempting to put his coat on while walking and struggling slightly. Ziva and Tony's eyes meet for a second and she quickly turned away and standing up she was slightly shaky on her feet.

"I'll be back in a moment." Informing him she left.

Beau appeared her phone clutched tightly in her hand, her already dark eyes were almost black now the pupils almost undetectable. She was angry, Tony guessed. She sat herself down at McGee's desk powering up her laptop. She sighed tilting her head back as if to look at the ceiling. Upset? Tony made another guess. It didn't seem to matter as she turned her chair to be facing him

"Why won't you tell her?" she said out of the blue. Tony looked at her with a raised eye brow. He'd only just gotten used to Beau, her abrupt British manner, and what was a bizarre relationship with McGee. But it was moments like these he thought that instead of being a psychologist she needed a psychologist.

"Tell who, what?" he enquired.

"Tell Ziva, how you feel." She said calmly without giving it a second thought.

"What are you on about?" he frowned looking down at his desk.

"Or should the question be, why aren't you telling her?" she said, her lips played up a slight smirk as she crossed her arms over her chest. Her eyes narrowed and she watched him intently asif reading his thoughts.

"Stop treating me like I'm one of your patients. You don't have know everything about everyone." He snapped.

"Projection. As I would have expected. But fine, no more questions."

"What?" he said looking exasperated.

"Freud's idea." She informed him simply turning back to her laptop. Taunting Tony had improved her mood and her eyes had lightened slightly.

"Crazy." He muttered to himself, shrugging his shouldered and getting back to work.

"Some would agree, personally think some of his theories are realistic...but just a little too close to reality for comfort for us to admit."

"I was talking about you." He said grimly.

Who was she to judge how he felt about Ziva. How long had she been here anyway? Not long enough to be getting into his head that's for sure. And what she mean feelings anyway? Shaking off the thoughts he got back to work, his fear for Gibbs outweighed his intrigue.


	5. Chapter 5

Thank you for the reviews!

Cat, if you're reading this happy birthday darling!

Sorry posted this so late been rushed off my feet, I'm doing some work with local government in corporal strategy so I've been very busy. However it's brilliant, I'm even more excited about studying politics!

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of these characters

**Crash Landing: Part 5**

Ziva returned to her desk with a bottle of water in her hand, taking a box of tablets from her drawer she popped two from their foil packaging. And with one swift movement the pills disappeared and she was taking a sip from her water. Tony watched her carefully; he knew how he felt about her, no matter who questioned him.

"What have you got?" she asked Tony.

"I had Abby send me up the list of his contacts off his phone, going through his text's and phone log." He told her. With a quick nod she glanced at her screen and began typing furiously. How could he NOT be worried about her? Everyone was. Everyone was watching her waiting for her to say something. She stopped typing and placed her head in her hands. Tony without a second thought jumped up moving towards her, crouching down next to her seat. He looked around, Gibbs and McGee had gone Beau had disappeared. He took the moment turning Ziva's chair around he pulled his arms around her. She flinched and struggled in his but he didn't let her go, he just he kept her close to him until she stopped moving and had melted into his embrace.

"Shhh." He muttered into her hair, she smelt good he noticed; a mix of perfume and soap. He had this overwhelming urge to kiss her. There were barriers and rules that forced him to stop himself. But as he pulled away looking into her coffee coloured eyes with his fingertips wrapped in the few stray ringlets that had escaped her hair band, he wanted to lean in and...

She flinched again. Her eyes had glazed over and she stood up so quickly she almost knocked Tony over.

She headed towards the bathroom walking as fast as her legs would carry her, Tony picked himself up off the floor and followed her. He locked the door turning to find Ziva frantically scrubbing at the visible skin on her arms and face. She was practically clawing at it turning it red raw. Tony placed his hands on her shoulders and turned her around; he took her wrists in his hands to stop her. Along with the water running down her cheeks were tears. She looked terrified as she began struggling against his grip.

"I can't get him off my skin." She said in some way of explanation. Tony placed one hand on her cheek and wiping one of many tears away, his skin warm against icy water. They were so close that water was dripping from her face to his shirt darkening splodges of the light blue material. His eyes were wide and his expression sympathetic. He doesn't shh her or tell her it was all going to be okay.

"It's too much Tony...all of it..." she mumbles into his shirt. He could feel her breathing on his neck, the heaviness of her arms wrapped tightly around him and her legs against his. He carefully moved hair from her face so he could look her in the eye.

"What?" he asks softly almost whispering.

"Everything. Everything that's happened...is happening" she responded and rested her forehead on his chest as a sign that she did not wish to speak further on the matter. She stood completely still for a few moments letting Tony hold her then she began to pull away. She looked up at him her hands in fists resting on his chest still and his arms still tightly wrapped around her waist almost pinning her to the edge of the sink.

She must have felt it. He thought to himself carefully watching her expression. He moved one hand away from her and pulled a couple of paper towels out. He pressed them to her skin allowing them to soak up the water on her cheek. She didn't know what it was but something within her was stopping her from reacting but she allowed him to continue. Once he'd finished he gave her a melancholy smile and placed the paper towels in the bin. She hadn't moved and inch or met his eye. She stood there staring at her feet. He took a step towards her and lent his head down to place a kiss on her cheek. But without warning she turned quickly to face him her arms thrown up but he'd caught her wrists and their lips had already collided. Instead of stepping back as he knew he should he stayed there for a moment his lips brushing hers. Ziva's lips had been parted for a second but she'd quickly clamped them together and closed her eyes tilting her head back. Tony's eyes opened and he looked at her. It was as if he was lost in another world and just had been slapped. He woke up to the realization of how tightly he was gripping Ziva's wrists.

"Please." The word slipped pleadingly from her mouth.


	6. Chapter 6

Thank you for the reviews!

Waiting for my laptop backup to finish, thought I'd work on this while doing so, hope you like it!

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of these characters

**Crash Landing: Part 6**

Tony let Ziva go as quickly as he could not wanting to panic her further. She stepped back until she hit the wall, her eyes were wide and her fingers curled into fists.

"Leave, Tony, please...just go." She said pleading with him. He straightened up and clenched his jaw to stop himself from saying anything. Avoiding Ziva's eye he walked past her, the feeling of hurt washing over him. It was as if she'd hit him without lifting a finger.

Stepping out the door he was met by Beau. She raised a thin black eyebrow at him and gave him a questioning look.

"What do you want?" Tony snapped at her. Her arms went from her being folded across her chest to firmly let her side.

"Alcohol. I thought I recognised the petty officer and I've been racking my brains and finally it hit me. A friend of mine is a councillor at a local community centre. They run therapy groups and I remember seeing him at AA meetings while I was a temp. From what I recall he was one of their greatest success stories and was T-total by the end. So what was he doing in a bar you ask? Well, I had a look at his medical records and turns out, not only he did he relapse he acquired a drug addiction too and he's only fresh out a rehabilitation program." She smiled to herself.

"How did you get his medical records? They are confidential." Tony asked her suspiciously.

"A...friend...owed me a favour." She responded quickly. She stepped passed him and began to push the door of the women's bathroom open, Tony quickly grabbed her arm.

"I don't think that that's a good idea." and pulled her back.

"I think it is." She shook off his arm and stepped inside. Tony sighed and decided to make his way back to the squad room.

Ziva had slid to the floor her knees pulled up to her chest; Beau sat herself down next to Ziva.

"Being upset doesn't make you any weaker." She stated softly. Ziva looked at her with a blank expression. "I don't know what's wrong but if you ever need anyone to talk to then give me a call." She took Ziva's hand in her own and pulled out a pen scrawling her phone number down. And picked herself up off the floor and gave Ziva a goofy smile. "Well I'm off to wind up Tony."

McGee and Gibbs had returned from the bar with CCTV tapes and a suspect. Beau, McGee and Tony stood in the observation room while Gibbs tried to shake up the bar tender they had picked up.

"He didn't do it, his posture is all wrong, he's too relaxed, too confidence, there is no doubt it the way he answers the questions because he knows he's telling the truth. Beau comments leaving the observation room within ten minutes.

"I don't know what you see in her...I really don't." Tony commented raising his eyebrows at McGee, who just brushed off the comment.

"Where's Ziva?" he asked. Tony tensed at the image of Ziva when he'd left her. "I don't know." He responded slowly.

They made their way to the squad room when it became apparent that Gibbs would not be able to break the barman. Ziva was sitting at her desk tapping her finger nails against the desk with one hand while gripping the phone in the other. "Yes...fine...put me on hold...AGAIN..."

She glanced up at Tony as if nothing had happened by quickly looked away again. "Hello...can you please tell me what time he left?" she paused grabbing a post-it. "Okay...that's great thank you." She placed the phone down smiling to herself.

McGee walked over to his desk where Beau was typing furiously on her laptop. Tony stood for a moment watching Ziva. She was fully aware of his gaze but was trying her best not to react to it.

"Can I help you with anything Tony?" she asked in a mild tone still refusing to meet his eye.

"No...sorry." he mumbled turning towards his desk.

"What you got?" Gibbs asked strolling in. His expression told them that it was not the time to joke with him.

"He's been on a pretty repetitive routine, coffee shop at nine am, gym card last used at ten thirty, home after that, but nothing till he showed up at the bar at ten pm. I'm trying to fill the gaps." Ziva explained.

"DiNozzo, find out who he was meeting?" his gaze turned to Tony.

"Still working on it boss..."

"Don't think you have to, caught him here on CCTV, I'll take this down to Abby see if she can do a facial recognition search." McGee turned to Gibbs and began making his way to the lift.

"Can I please book a table for two please...ten pm...that sounds great thank you..." he hangs up his phone after he's stepped out of the lift. "Hey Abby did you get the photo I sent you?" he asks her.

"Who is she?" Abby turns to him, her hands firmly placed on her hips and her eyes narrowed. McGee looks at her startled and a face that silently screamed innocence.

"Who?" he looks around.

"The girl you're dating of course?" Abby smiles at him, but beyond the smile there is something that McGee couldn't detect.

"I'm not dating anyone..." he says slowly pronouncing each word to make sure they were right.

"A table for two?" She raises her eyebrows at him.

"You have amazing hearing..."

"Answer the question Timmy."

"It's not really a date...well...no...not really." McGee begins to stumble over his words.

"I'm happy for you." Abby says to him and for a moment they pause not really knowing what to say to each other.

"You've probably already met her, Beau." He says.

"Short, British, staying with Ducky?"

"That's the one." McGee smiles.

"Oh." Abby's mouth makes an "o" shape.

And their moment of awkwardness is interrupted by the noise of facial recognition finding a match.


	7. Chapter 7

Thank you for the reviews!

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of these characters

**Crash Landing: Part 7**

Both McGee and Abby turned to face the computer screen.

"I'll call Gibbs." Abby said picking up her phone. "We've got a hit."

Gibbs, Tony and Ziva made their way to Abby's lab anticipating the result of the search; they walked into the room that was filled with loud, fast paced music as always, Abby was pacing up and down in wait for them. They all looked at the screen there was a scruffy looking man with a scar that was impossible to miss.

"James Cotes, everyone's favourite pimp." Abby said with a grinning watching Tony's reaction to recognising the man.

"Why won't he just go away?" Tony grumbled making his relationship the felon very clear.

"Tony, Ziva find him." Gibbs instructed them. "McGee, find out how they know each other."

Ziva and Tony climbed into the car not saying a word to each other. Tony opened and closed his mouth every so often as they drove down dark streets trying to find the right words.

"You know this...wimp..." in the end Ziva was the one to break the silence.

"It's pimp...and only too well...nasty piece of work." Tony replied.

"I see." Ziva took in what he said and Tony pulled up carefully.

"I'm sorry about before, I didn't mean to...to...do that..." Tony started talking not knowing where he was going with the sentence his eyes burning holes through her. Neither one of them made the move to get out of the car.

"It's fine." Ziva turned away from him and began watching the road. There was nothing but empty streets to look at but she focused her eyes on a flickering light bulb not wanting to look at Tony knowing that meeting those bright blue eyes would cause her to melt and perhaps even break down.

"Is it?" Tony asked titling his head.

"What?"

"Is everything really as fine as you keep saying it is?" he asked again making his question very clear.

"No. No, it's not." She admitted turning her focus to her hands. She had no idea what she was doing she'd never let anyone in, not really, but this was different. Tony was different. She reminded herself of that every day. And after everything she felt obliged to tell him, to prove to him that she_ did_ trust him. "I've been thinking about family. And I...realised...I have no one left Tony...my mother and Tali...Ari... The night I was at that bar, the night I met him, my father had called and I told him I never wanted to see him again...but- " Tony cut her off taking her hand in his own.

"But nothing, Ziva. You have a family, me, Gibbs, McGee, Abby and Ducky, we are all your family. No one blames for not wanting to see him." Their fingers intertwined, her hands looked tiny in Tony's grip. "Come on, I've got an old friend I need to introduce you to." Tony smiled using his free hand to open the car door.

They stepped outside into the night air; it was thick and sweet surrounding them. They walked down the empty street getting to a dead end with a grey door. Tony pushed the door open to reveal what looked like a night club. However the lack of bouncer and people waiting outside said something else. They made their way inside moving past sweating bodies of people dancing to a ridiculous beat. Tony made his way to someone who looked like the ring leader Ziva following close behind him. The man was surrounded by girls barely covered by the skimpy clothes they were wearing.

"Where's James?" Tony asked sharply.

"What no foreplay ?" the man pouted at him. "On holiday." He took Ziva in, looking her up and down he stood up making a move towards her but Tony had already stepped in the way. He'd never stood between Ziva and the men that seem to constantly leer at her; she could take care of herself. But after what had happened he wasn't going to take any chances.

"Protective I see, this your girl. You have good taste if I do say so myself." He winked at Ziva, slowly undressing her with his eyes. She reached for the knife at her waist but Tony stopped her.

"Where's James?" he asked again more sternly.

"I don't know. He took off a couple of days ago." Tony turned to leave after hearing the answer, giving Ziva a look that told her to do the same.

They drove to James's flat which was empty and they were told by a neighbour that he hadn't been home for a few days. Frustrated, they headed back to headquarters where Gibbs told them to go home and come back with fresh perspectives.


	8. Chapter 8

Thank you for the reviews!

I'm not sure about this chapter, I had two alternate things Ziva could have told Tony, I went for this one...but I'm really not sure...let me know what you think...if you don't agree then I shall put the other version up...please tell me what you think!

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of these characters

**Crash Landing: Part 8**

Tony took the lift down to the NCIS gym, McGee had taken Beau out to dinner much to Abby's disapproval while Gibbs was most likely to be drinking bourbon and working on another boat. Ziva had slipped out silently without a word to anyone.

The enclosed space of the elevator had become too much for him, and he was breathing deeply dragging each breath of air in. He punched the wall, any other time he would have been concerned about the pain in his hand but he didn't care. Tony gritted his teeth and took another ragged breath. Frustration and other emotions bubbled up inside of him waiting to reach boiling point.

He kicked the double doors he reached them, but stopped when he got to the doors of the gym. Inside he could see Ziva.

She was taking everything she had out on a punching bag, she moved elegantly he noticed. He'd always known. She could gracefully take someone down with a flick of her arm. She kicked the punch back effortless lifting her leg to her side like a dancer. She used to dance he remembered, remembered her telling that redneck they had arrested from that wildlife park in interrogation. She told him how she'd waited to see her father in the audience, how she wished he'd be there and he wasn't. Much like now, Tony thought to himself. She punched the bag letting it swing away before it fell back into her open arms. She was tiring, it was obvious from her limp grip and the way her legs looked as if they were about to buckle beneath her. And they finally did. She fell to the floor, legs spread in a sprawled position and arms wrapped around herself, tears gliding down her cheeks. It was a cue for Tony.

He opened the door quietly but her hearing and reflexes were too quick and soon enough she was standing the gun that had been placed on the floor in her hand pointed at Tony. He placed his bag down and held his hands up as if in surrender. She dropped her gun but her stand remained the same unnerving him. He stepped closer to her and in the process kicked her gun out of the way and away from her reach.

"I don't need my gun Tony, I could fight you without it." She smirked but there was uneasiness in the way she spoke.

"I know...it just makes me feel a tiny bit safer...that's all..." he gave her a slow smile waiting for her to react. "What's on your mind?"

"You know...work...stress..." she responded as if pre-recorded message and turned back to the punch bag assessing her next swing.

"Ziva."

"When he...he didn't...use...a condo..." she trailed off trying to make sense of what she was saying. "I got a morning after bill...but I was sick before I'd even swallowed it. And I went to get another one...but...I don't know...I don't know what is the right thing to do...it's a child Tony..." she looked at him helplessly.

He stepped closer to her, taking her into his arms.

"I'm scared Tony..." she muttered crying on his shoulder, her tears damping his shirt which in turn dampened his skin.

"I know...I know..." he held her close his fingers tangling with her hair, breathing in the smell of her perfume and shampoo. He wanted his old Ziva back, the Ziva that would break him in half and would make jokes.

What could he do?


	9. Chapter 9

Thank you for the reviews!

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of these characters

**Crash Landing: Part 9**

Ziva pulled away, wiping the tears from her eyes, she gathered her things and left Tony standing there completely baffled. She had to speak to Gibbs, she decided, he would be able to help her. Tell her what to do. She didn't bother putting her jacket on and stepped out into the fresh, cold air. Out of the corner of her eye she could see a tall figure but as she turned it had disappeared.

She opened the door to Gibbs's house, as always the door was left unlocked for any visitors. She silently made a move into the house and down the stairs to the basement. As predicted Gibbs was working on his boat. He looked up at her with a knowing look. He'd known that Ziva wasn't okay, but he wasn't going to be the one to push her into talking. And as he had predicted there she was.

Ziva sat down on a stool while Gibbs continued sanding down his boat, her legs felt as if they were about to give up on her. Taking a deep breath she began talking. The voice coming out of her mouth did not sound like her own; it sounded meek, quiet, scared. All the things she swore she would never be. But she didn't stop, she just kept talking, everything she felt came flooding out.

"I feel so alone Gibbs and it sounds stupid...because I'm not...but I do..." she told him what she'd told Tony, "What do I do?" she asked him. He looked at her sitting there with a terrified look on her face and felt a sudden rush of affection.

"Kids are special, Ziva. But are you telling me, when that child looks at you you're not going to think of him. What he did? Are you telling me, that you're willing to give up what you do? You love your job Ziva, do you want to give all of it up. Because you know you'll have to." He spoke softly however knowing how harsh his words sounded. Ziva nodded at him, she knew exactly what he meant; she thought about all the things she would have to give up.

"Thank you, Gibbs." She stood up; Gibbs pulled her into his arms. After a few moments she silently pulled away and made her way up the stairs.

She'd left her car at NCIS and decided to walk to have time to think. Ziva stopped to look around, her feet had a mind of their own and she'd just kept walking. Looking around she realised she was outside of Tony's flat. Knocking on the door she wrapped her arms around herself; Tony answered and silently moved out of the way to let her in.

"Can I get you anything?" he asked her.

"No, it's fine." She shivered.

"Do you want me to go to the pharmacy?" he asked bluntly, she looked up at him wide eyed and nodded. Gibbs was right; she wasn't ready to give up everything she knew. And the reminder of what happened every time she looked at the child. She felt sick as Tony walked out the door, regret? She wondered. She curled up into a ball on his sofa pulling his jacket over her, allowing tears to silently make their way over her skin.

Tony made his way back as quickly as he could, he felt like an idiot in the pharmacy which wasn't helped by the raised eyebrows from the women at the counter. But it didn't matter, it was for Ziva. And he wasn't going to let her down, not like so many other people in her life had.

As he walked he saw a figure standing leaning against a car a cigarette between his fingers. As Tony stepped closer the figure became a man, a man he knew. He was wearing a suit that looked expensive, Armini, Tony guessed. His expression changed as he saw Tony, a false smile played on his lips.

"Hello, Agent...DiNozzo..." the man said turning to him slowly.

Their eyes met and Tony felt suddenly infuriated. Something inside him wanted him to punch the man in front of him.


	10. Chapter 10

Thank you for the reviews!

Sorry this is going to be short!

I'm annoyingly sick : -( however jammies and a mug of earl grey are making me feel vaguely better.

I will mention I have a soft spot for Michael Nouri the actor that plays Eli David...hehe

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of these characters

**Crash Landing: Part 10**

"What do you want?" Tony snapped.

"My daughter, Mr DiNozzo." Eli smiled at him; he ignored the anger in Tony's eyes. "You can't keep her away from me."

"If you believe that, you've got another thing coming." Tony responded through gritted teeth. His fingers curled into fists baiting Eli.

"Do you really think, she'd choose you over her father?" he laughed bitterly. His eyes were as bright as his smile. And Tony could see how he'd spent years fooling Ziva.

"I do actually." Tony responded stepping closer to him. The over powering smell of cigarette smoke filled his nostrils.

"Ziva is very loyal and she also knows exactly where her loyalties lie."

"Is that why she told you that she never wanted to see you again?" Tony smirked at him.

"I do not want to hurt you Mr DiNozzo, but if I have to go through you to get to my daughter, I will." He said. Tony could only dream about the things that Eli could do...would do.

"Well then you be prepared for a fight, because, I'm not the only one standing in the way...Eli"

Eli flicked his cigarette to the ground and smiled. Behind Tony a breathless Ziva appeared, her eyes not moving off her father.

"Tony go inside, this will not take long." she urged him.

"Shalom, Ziva." Eli stepped towards Ziva planting an affectionate kiss on her cheek. Tony felt the anger bubble up. He took the paper package out of his pocket, handing it to Ziva he looked her in the eye. There were tears welling up and she held on to his fingers for the few moments she could while he gave her the package. Tony walked past Eli towards the open door of this flat.

Tony left her alone with him, and a lump of guilt built up in his throat as he did so. Eli was Ziva's father, no matter how much he resented the man the decision to communicate with him was Ziva's in the end.

He is her father, he kept reminding himself.


	11. Chapter 11

Thank you for the reviews!

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of these characters

**Crash Landing: Part 11**

Ziva turned to her father, a mix of emotions began filling her. He pulled out another cigarette and placed it between his lips. She looked at the beautiful silver cigarette box glinting in the dim light, it provided a sense of familiarity from her childhood, something she'd missed all of the years as an adult; her mother had bought for him.

"Please-" Ziva began to speak but Eli stopped her.

"You were always stubborn Ziva, even as a child, but shutting out your father do you really believe that is best?" he looked at her in a way that made her feel guilty. He was very good at that, at making her feel small and insignificant. Growing up when she did something he did not approve of he would give her a look reminding her of her place.

"Father? You lost that right a long time ago." She informed him.

"I'm away for a little while and you're shacked up with him? You can do better Ziva, we both know you can." He said calmly ignoring his daughter's anger. He was used to delegating; he'd spent most of his life doing it.

"Better? Like Michael, you really _do_ know what's good for me?" she crossed her arms across her chest.

"What has that got to do with anything?" he asked taking a casual drag from his cigarette. His lack of emotion in the way he spoke infuriated her, he just wanted to scream. He was cold; heartless.

"That?" she'd heard enough, turning away. She hadn't bothered to correcting him on the fact she was not shacked up with Tony, she let her father believe it out of spite. She knew full well how much the idea of them angered him.

"Ziva." Eli stopped her, she turned to find he was holding out a hand. In his palm was a ring. "It belonged to your mother, she would have wanted you to have it. You might not believe it, but I loved your mother very much Ziva. I reminded of my loss every day, you're my old child now, I don't want to lose you." The mention of her mother had stopped her in her tracks, giving Eli the chance to step close enough to plant a kiss on her cheek. Her mother had been forced to fulfil role of both parents until they were old enough to understand Mossad and their fathers work. How easily they had brushed her aside when he was actually home. They would play cards as a family and unlike most parents who would let their children win their father taught them the hard way about the feeling of defeat.

Eli had disappeared into the night, Ziva made her way back inside where Tony was waiting for her.

He placed a glass of water on the coffee table in front of her. She finally wrapped the paper packaging looking at the tablet. Tony had sat himself down and was intently watching her with a cornered expression.

"When I was younger I used to beg him to stop smoking...I was so scared he was going to get sick." She gave an empty laugh popping the pill onto her palm. "I'd hide his cigarettes or his lighter." She swallowed the tablet with water. "He'd look for it before getting angry and ask me to bring it back to him. One day asked him he loved me, he said he did, I made a point of the fact if he loved me he'd stop smoking, so he wouldn't get sick."

"Don't let him get to you Ziva."

"He used to tell us stories about people who died with honour and a sense of duty. And all we ever wanted to do was to make him proud." Ziva's melancholy expression was haunting making Tony feel uncomfortable. "And in the end nothing was good enough for him." She sighed and stood up. Her eyes met Tony's and he could see the years of sadness she'd tried to hide. The one of the first times they'd met she'd refused to acknowledge her relation to Eli, brushing him off with is comment that David was a common Israeli name.

"I should go home." She said.

"Stay." Tony whispered. He didn't know where the voice had come from, and he started to regret it as soon as he'd said it.

"No." She replied quickly.

"Let me drive you home at least." He said slightly hurt. Ziva nodded putting her jacket on, he stood up grabbing his car keys.

"What did he say?" Tony asked turning a corner. He knew it was a long shot but he might as well give it a go.

"It doesn't matter." Ziva glanced at the ring she'd slipped on and felt a lump in her throat build up. Tony pulled up in front of Ziva's apartment. "I will see you tomorrow." Tony took Ziva's hand as she tried to leave.

"If you need anything, call me, any time." He reassured her.

"Yes." She kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you for everything Tony."

"No, need to thank me." He whispered, she could feel his breath on her lips, and the smell of his cologne mixed with night air. There was a part of her that wanted to cling to him, to just allow herself to be weak.


	12. Chapter 12

Thank you for the reviews!

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of these characters

**Crash Landing: Part 12**

The next day Ziva came in earlier than everyone else and got straight to work. As did everyone else when they arrived, Gibbs was getting agitated and there is a no way they could have gotten away with slacking.

"Does Tim like cars?" Beau asked standing between Tony and Ziva's desks. They both looked at her with puzzled expressions. "I was thinking about taking him to a vintage car show, I used to go see them at home, up in Blenheim Palace. And I thought it would be nice to go to one here."

"What do you drive?" Tony asked raising his eye brows.

"Aston Martin V8 Vantage, an '84, not that I can drive it here."

"N-hi-ce" Tony said surprised.

"I never pinned McGee as a car sort of guy." Ziva told Beau who didn't seem surprised.

"Term is pegged and neither have I, I'd take him to a computer convention if I were you, Elf lord likes computers." Tony corrected Ziva and began mocking McGee.

"You know what I'd like DiNozzo?" Gibbs said walking in with a coffee firmly grasped in his hand.

"For me to get back to work?" Tony made a guess slightly embarrassing.

"What have you got?" He asked.

"Uhm..." Tony paused not knowing just how to tell Gibbs that a whole mornings work had found them little to no information. Their supposed drug dealing pimp had disappeared off the radar, and links between him and their dead ex marine.

"I got in contact with my friend, who was his old therapist; he said you could have a look at his notes." Beau offered.

"Ziva, Tony, go." Gibbs told them walking away towards the lift.

"Can I come with you?" Beau asked hopefully. "It's just, I think it would make Nate more comfortable about giving you the files."

"Are you a trained investigator?" Tony asked.

"No, but I know who you're going to see." She said sternly.

"Of course you can come." Ziva smiled brightly at Tony's grim expression. "What Tony? It only makes sense that Beau comes."

They drove silently to the community centre; Tony was irritated by Beau's presence and by Ziva allowing her to be there. He wasn't sure what it was about her but something about her got under his skin.

"Nate!" Beau called as they entered the building. A man was placing chairs in a circle in the centre of the room with a wary look, his eyes seemed to light up when he saw Beau and as she approached him he pulled her into a hug. Tony raised his eye brows at Ziva who choose to ignore him.

"We're here to pick up those files." She told him.

"Ah, I see. Come through to my office." They followed him to find it was not really an office but a room that was taken up by a desk covered in files. Nate picked the ones off the top and as he went to hand them to Beau, Tony snatched them up.

"Thank you." He said turning to leave. Beau said goodbye to Nate and they all clambered back into the car.

"I don't like him." Tony said bluntly.

"Why?" Beau asked.

"My gut says not to trust him." Beau rolled her eyes and didn't bother to reply.


	13. Chapter 13

Sorry this is going to be very short!

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of these characters

**Crash Landing: Part 13**

"I think I was right about your friend Nate." Tony smirked at Beau who had been translating psychology jargon for Ziva. "I had a look at our psychologist friend's background; he has a drug history himself, and his patients have an interestingly high relapse rate. Coincidence? I think not."

"Nate is one of the good guys; he knows what drugs do to a person, to everyone around them. He's worked hard to get where he is and- " Beau started to defend him.

"Well then. If he's so amazing he'll have no problem with answering a few of our questions, we're bringing him in." Tony gave her a grim smile and turned too looked at Ziva. "Come on."

Nate sat in the interrogation room with an arrogant smile on his face. He was cool, calm and collected. Everything someone who is guilty supposedly is not, Beau watched him from behind the screen confident that her friend is not involved. Nate had been there for her when she needed him the most.

Gibbs had told Tony to interview Nate and had disappeared following a lead without telling anyone as usual leaving them to guess what he was up to. Ziva and McGee stood with Beau waiting for Tony to burst through the door like cops in movies.

"Hello." Nate said almost beaming at Tony. He was handsome, even Ziva had noticed much to Tony's irritation, and looked even more so when smiling.

"So are you going to tell us where our dead marine was getting his drugs or should we just assume it was you?" Tony started walking around him. Nate laughed and turned to him.

"I got out of that world Agent DiNozzo, and I plan on staying out of it. How hard it must be for you to keep that exterior going. What are you really like?" Nate crossed him arms across his chest and watched Tony intently. And for the same reason he disliked Beau he hated Nate, the way he'd climbed into his head and started picking him apart. Nate looked satisfied to know he'd hit a nerve causing anger to bubble up in Tony.

"We've convicted people on a lot less so you better just hurry up and tell us what's going on, or we'll hold you responsible for everything that has happened." Tony snapped.

"Calm down, calm down. I'm not the one you want."

"Who is?" Tony said his fingers curling into fists.

"Someone close to home...who's been helping you all off this time...who led you to me?" He smiled this time at the screen knowing full well who he was looking at. "I might want to have a nose around someone else's _personal_ files...if I were you."

A shiver went through Beau as Ziva and McGee turned to look at her.


	14. Chapter 14

Sorry I meant to update earlier!

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of these characters

**Crash Landing: Part 14**

Tony, Ziva and McGee stood in the squad room with Beau's filed up in front of them. Beau sat in an interrogation room waiting for someone to question her. McGee stood stony faced hoping that Tony would not make a snide remark.

"She killed her last boyfriend probie, you really do know how to pick out the crazies. What was that red head called?" Tony remarked; Ziva gave him a warning look.

"How does Beau link to any of what we have?" She asked.

"Her ex-boyfriend happened to serve with our dead guy. She killed someone before, who's to say she wouldn't do it again?"

"It was self defence." McGee snapped at Tony. He wasn't ready to believe the girl he had spent evenings with could someone in cold blood.

"I'm going to question her." Tony announced.

"Please...let me talk to her." McGee pleaded. Ziva placed her hand on Tony's arm and it was if reality finally hit him. "Fine" he responded quietly. 

Tony and Ziva stood silently in the observation room watching Beau and McGee.

"Beau, please tell me what's going on." Beau had a blank expression on her face, she'd become completely unreadable.

"I take it you looked at my files." She looked McGee in the eye for the first time since he'd entered the room. She sighed, regaining control of the flicker emotion that had just appeared. "I didn't know what to do. We were at the top of the stairs and he wouldn't stop shouting. He just kept going on and on, so I pushed him...I watched him fall...I didn't kill that man Tim, you've got to believe me." McGee took Beau's hands in his own in attempts to comfort her.

"I do, but you've got to tell me everything you can."

Tony sighed and turned away from the screen, Ziva glanced up at him from under dark lashes. He turned to leave the room but Ducky appeared at the door with a wary expression.

"The girl is innocent; I assure you of that." Ducky insisted.

"I need proof Duck." Tony replied.

They sat silently in the squad room; McGee avoided making eye contact with anyone in the room. Gibbs return finally gave them something else to focus on.

"Got our drug dealer friend if you want to speak with him Tony?" Gibbs said in a manner that suggested he didn't care but everyone knew he was angry.

"Uhm...boss..." Tony approached Gibbs's desk slowly as if he were a rattle snake.

"What?" Gibbs growled warningly. Tony explained what had happened after they questioned Nate, spoke quickly not wanting to give Gibbs the time to stop him.

"Have you questioned her?" he asked.

"Well...not exactly..." Tony stumbled over his words.

"Then what are you doing here? Ziva take the drug dealer. McGee look at our victim's accounts, see if there are any abnormalities."

Tony opened the door to find Beau resting her head on the table; she looked up at him with red rimmed eyes. He placed a steaming mug down for her.

"McGee stole Ducky's tea bags." He mumbled to her, she gave him a thankful smile. "Your ex-boyfriend served with our victim." Tony started to which Beau simply nodded. "Did you meet him before the counselling group?" Tony started.

"No."

"What about your friend Nate?"

"I met him at a conference I was looking for work as a temp. He offered me a place. This was back when I first moved here."

"Why would he tell us to look at your files?"

"I don't know." Beau kept her eyes focused on her tea.

"Because you seem to know a lot about our victim, and you certainly were helpful." Tony lent against the wall watching her reaction waiting for her to slip up, for the mask to fall away and for her real identity to become apparent.

"Why would I help you if it was me?" Beau asked looking up at Tony and much to his disappointment not slipping up. "What reason, what motive do I have?" Tony met her eye, giving away that they had nothing. She looked past him to the screen, her breath caught in her chest but she finally spoke. "Which one of Grossman's categories do I fit into Duck? What sort of killer am I?"

Tony could imagine Ducky shifting uncomfortably behind the screen, but he could also imagine that someone like Beau would find it easy to pull the wool over someone's eyes.

"Where were you that night?" Tony asked.

"With Tim."

Tony sighed walking out the door slamming it on the way out. He knew he had to find something to put Beau at the crime scene. He made his way to the squad room, hoping that McGee had made progress with the accounts. As he approached he saw Ziva was standing with a hurt expression which made his stomach lurch. Tony stepped towards her placing his hands on her shoulder, she looked past his shoulder.

Tony turned to find Eli shaking hands with Vance, a grim smile playing on his lips.


	15. Chapter 15

Thank you for the reviews!

Sorry this is going to be short. This and Dear Ziva have been my first hands at writing fanfiction, I'm actually a poet and am working on a poetry book!

.com/

That there is a link to my work if you have a few moments and are very bored it would mean a lot if you checked it out and let me know what you think.

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of these characters

**Crash Landing: Part 15**

Tony's grip tightened on Ziva, trying to helping her stand up. She hadn't once taken her eyes of her father, emotion flooded her dark eyes. It reminded Tony of the difference between Ziva and her father.

"What's he doing here?" Tony asked almost whispering into her ear.

"I don't know." Ziva responded finally tearing her eyes away from her father, she took in how close Tony was standing the feeling of his hands on her arms. They paused for a moment before a silent instruction told Tony to let go and take a step back. "I must talk to him." She says moving past Tony towards the stair case where Eli was descending. A smile fixed on his lips, his eyes darkening as he saw Ziva. She stood waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs.

"We must talk." Ziva tells him.

"Let me take you for lunch, I'm sure Gibbs can spare you." Eli moves towards the squad room.

"Father...please..." Eli turned around, his back to Tony at his desk. 

"What? Can a man not take his daughter for lunch?" he asks not dropping his smile for a second.

"Must you make a scene?" Ziva growls at her father only encouraging his eccentric behaviour.

"I'm not making a scene, but dear are you embarrassed of your father?"

"No." Ziva replies shortly. "Why are you here?" she asks bluntly, not wanting to be lured into the false sense of security, not wanting to start believing that her father cared and was there for her rather than his own personal agenda.

"Can we talk about his later? I would love to catch up."

"No, just tell me why you are here."

"Zi please- "

"Just as I thought, you are the same as always." She hissed at him. This man standing in front of her was almost a stranger that she had encountered a few too many times. She stood back taking a deep breath, a sense of sadness filled her as she tried to work out when it was exactly that she'd lost her father to the man he currently was. According to Ari, this was who he always was. But she wasn't sure, at some point in time he'd been a warm, caring man.

"Am I here to get my daughter back." He stated simply. If Ziva didn't know him she would have saw real emotions in his eyes, affection for his daughter.

"You lost me a long time ago." She moves past him towards her desk, gripping the edge trying to hide the emotion running through her.

"Ziva." Eli snapped at her.

"What?" she turns quickly on her heel. McGee looks at Tony hoping to catch his eye. He'd never properly met Eli before, and Ziva did not speak of him often. And he'd gotten the feeling after Tony's

"I'm here to take you home." Eli blurts out.


	16. Chapter 16

Thank you for the reviews!

Sorry it took this long to update!

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of these characters

**Crash Landing: Part 16**

"Abby's got something..." Gibbs walked from the lift to his desk not even registering Eli's presence, it was only when he turned to see Ziva standing, her cheeks red and her eyes darker than he'd ever seen and then the man who'd caused her to react this way. "Eli..." he said facing him.

"Agent Gibbs." He smiled, glancing at Ziva. "I will see you later Ziva." Eli turned planted a kiss on Ziva's cheek. She flinched as he touched her, she could feel everyone's eyes on her father. She closed her eyes for a moment to ignore everyone around them. The mixed smell of cigarette smoke and cologne took her straight back to her childhood. She opened her eyes and looked up at her father he looked tired; the job had aged him far quicker than he should have.

"Ziver" Gibbs called her.

They followed Gibbs down to Abby's lab; she was pacing with a worried expression on her face.

"He was poisoned, we know that, but I was looking at the chemical compounds in the poison. It's make up...it's atropine...and in the dose he had it would have taken him...24 hours to die...so he wasn't poisoned in the bar. Also I looked up atropine...it's a plant...common in Britain...it's rare to find it here..." Abby glanced at McGee quickly. "The compounds were broken down rapidly...well I mean it took a long time but...for this...in this way...a long time...suggesting it was ingested..." Gibbs handed Abby her Caf-Pow and turned on his heel to be followed by the rest of the team.

When they got back to the squad room Eli had disappeared but he'd left this impression on Ziva. She looked dazed, both Tony and Gibbs watched her closely. They both had had dealings with Eli and knew that he always got what he wanted and he would stop at nothing. They also knew the effect her father had on Ziva.

"I'm going to speak to Beau." Gibbs announced to them.

They all stood the observation room not knowing what to expect. Gibbs sat himself opposite her and made no move to act angry.

"Why did you do it?"

"I didn't." She said sticking to her guns.

"The poison that killed that marine was from Britain."

"So I brought poison from home to a place I was only going to be in until I finished my masters to kill someone I never knew I was going to meet? It makes no sense."

It was true, as much as no one wanted to admit it, what Beau was saying made sense. Gibbs nodded his head in acknowledgement of what she'd said and stood up walking out of the door.

"Let her go." He said to the team as they stood waiting for him in the hall way.

"But boss- " Tony began.

"Let her go she might lead us to something."

Beau stepped out of the room following Tony, she caught McGee's eye in the squad room freezing where she stood. McGee took and step towards her moving past Tony.

"Please...help me..." she whispered into his ear, she took his hand placing a piece of paper in his palm. She gave him one last look before turning to Tony. "I do not need an escort I'm fairly sure I can leave by myself."

Tony smirked "I'm sure you can."

"Are you always this complacent?" she asked, a touch of scorn in her voice. She turned on her heels and began walking towards the lift.

McGee unfolded the scrap of paper which appeared to be an old receipt, written on it was "Castle Street 7". He made his way to his seat and began typing at his keyboard in attempts to find out what she meant. Tony made his way back, looking grimmer than ever.

"What does it say?" Ziva asked.

"What?" McGee glanced up looking innocent.

"What does the bit of paper she gave you say?" Ziva raised an eye brow.

"Castle Street 7" he came clean. Both Tony and Ziva looked at each other blankly. "I looked it up, it's a tea room, 7 o'clock."

"Do you think she's meeting someone?" Ziva asked.

"I don't know." McGee looked at her.

"Well maybe we should find out..." Gibbs returned a cup of coffee in his hand.


	17. Chapter 17

Thank you for the reviews!

Next chapter, Eli!

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of these characters

**Crash Landing: Chapter 17**

After a fruitless interview with James Cotes and his stubborn and infuriating lawyer the team prepared themselves to see what Beau had.

McGee made his way to Castle Street Tea rooms. It wasn't long before he saw Beau, the wire he was wearing made him uncomfortable, Beau had trusted him, but he reminded himself that she would understand. She was sitting nervously with two steaming mugs in front of her; she gave McGee a smile looking around anxiously. He sat himself down waiting for her to start talking.

"I really like this place...reminds me of home...never really liked tea until I moved here..." she laughed humourlessly.

"Beau..."

"I'm sorry about this...I don't want you to get hurt but I have no choice...I don't know...what else to do...promise you won't hate me..." she was shaking; she took McGee's hand in her own forcing her attention on him.

"Please Beau just tell- " he looked at her wide eyed and worried.

"Please Tim promise me..."

"I promise can you tell me what's going on..."

"What Nate wanted you to see in my records is that I took a career break, a couple of months not too long...with my ex and the court case I lost everything...my house, my savings, my placement...I confided in Nate...I needed to borrow some money...he got me in contact with James Cotes...said he was a friend."

"James Cotes...he's a drug dealer..."

"And a loan shark...as time went by I got more into debt...I ran out of options...Nate said he'd handle it..."

"What did he do?"

"I don't know...that's the thing...people like James don't just leave you alone...but Nate did something and he cancelled my debt and left me alone...I got suspicious...of Nate. We'd been friends for a while, I trust him but I knew there was something going on. So I had a look through his files, his prescriptions... as a physiatrist he can prescribe ADHD medication, it's highly addictive...but when I looked at his recorded he was prescribing more than what was needed...the dead marine...he was one of the people he used to get the medication..."

"You think he's supplying?"

"I don't know...I think so..." she opened up the bag she had at her side and pulled out a box, using a napkin being careful not to touch it. "At first I thought he was using again...so I asked him...told him I could help him...he got angry...threatened to make trouble...blackmailed me...he can get me kicked off my course...he...told me I have to drop this off..." she indicated the box, passing McGee the napkin to him. He carefully removed the lid inside the box were packets each filled with tablets.

"Where and when?" he asked her.

"Tonight in two hours, at the community centre." She told him, glancing at her watch. "I'll go Gibbs...I'm not even sure if anyone will turn up...news of Nate's arrest is probably out by now..."

Gibbs was sitting in a car far enough away for no one to notice but close enough he could see exactly what was happening; Tony and Ziva in another car not far from him. Gibbs picked up his phone dialling McGee's number waiting for him to answer.

"Fine, she can go, we'll wait for them." He told McGee hanging up.

"He's using her as bait." Ziva said turning to Tony who simply nodded. They hadn't spoken while they had been waiting for McGee. Tony wanted to ask Ziva about Eli, to find out what she was planning on doing about him but didn't want to make the already uncomfortable atmosphere worse.

The team found themselves waiting again in front of the community centre, McGee sat nervously with Gibbs. The man that Tony and Ziva had met, at the first time they'd went looking for James Cotes appeared. They waited for him to go in and then come back out. Without delay the team scrambled out of their cars, pointing their guns him. He dropped the box the content spilling out onto the floor raising his hands. Ziva twisted his arms back and cuffed him, pleased to finally be able to get revenge for the leering. Beau slipped out of the door and stood beside McGee.

"Good work." Gibbs said to the team.

They made their way back to NCIS HQ exhausted, but glad the case was over. James's replacement broke down easy and confessed, incriminating both Nate and James along with him. It had become apparent that Nate had murdered the marine in attempts to stop him from telling the police. Beau stood in the observation room watching Nate. His handsome features twisted into a frown.

"I don't understand why." She murmured sensing McGee behind her, he didn't know what to say, he rested his hand on her shoulder hoping that he would of some comfort.

Tony walked Ziva to her car, he was about to turn when he saw Eli over Ziva's shoulder.


	18. Chapter 18

Thank you for the reviews!

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of these characters

**Crash Landing: Chapter 18**

Tony did not move staying firmly by Ziva's side as her father slowly made his way towards them. He nodded curtly at Tony and then turned to Ziva.

"It is about time we spoke." He said. "I thought we could have dinner, do you still enjoy cooking?"

"Yes, let's just get this over and done with. I will see you later Tony." She turned to Tony to say goodbye and opened her car indicating for her father to climb into the passenger seat. They drove in silence back to her flat; every so often Eli would turn and start to say something but would stop.

Eli stood in the kitchen watching Ziva move about working over simmering pans on the stove and searching for ingredient. She finished up, putting the food onto plates and setting them on her small dining table. She poured both herself and her father glasses of wine knowing full well that she would need alcohol to survive what was about to come.

"You have a nice place here, very...er...homey." Eli said sitting himself down opposite his daughter. How much she had grown up. She was no longer a girl; she was a beautiful woman, one he did not wish to share with NCIS, or Tony DiNozzo to be specific.

"What is it you wish to speak to me about, father?" Ziva did not want to spend the evening tip toeing around what he had come to say. She was not going to sit and be polite while her father rambled about irrelevant things.

"I think you should come home...back to Israel...I miss you very much dear...I wish to have family around..." He reached out and placed his hand on hers. Ziva wriggled her hand free and continued eating not looking up or meeting her father's eye. She knew if she were to see the sad, tired expression he wore so well she would crack.

"Family?" she gives a short humourless laugh. "Did you treat Ari like family? He was my brother, I loved him. Did you love him?"

"Yes, I loved Ari very much, I loved Tali. And I love you." Eli says coldly in answer to her question.

"I do not believe you. When I was in Somalia, I was counting on you. I spent all of that time waiting...waiting for you...my father...to save me...but you did not...you did nothing...I lost all my will to live, I was ready to die." She placed her knife and fork down and took a sip from her wine. Her hands fell to her lap and she sat watching him.

"Ziva you must understand it was difficult...I did not wish to leave you."

"Difficult? And once I was saved? Was that difficult too?" She could feel anger bubble up inside her; she had never taken her anger out on her father. She had always done as he said. But she'd had enough she had seen what he had done and what he was capable of.

"Ziva I have made mistakes. But you must forgive me, I do not want to lose you."

"Forgiveness? You ask too much off me. You always have." She spoke quietly while her father's voice slowly got louder.

"What do you mean?" he demanded.

"Nothing I did was enough for you, you were never proud of me, nothing matched your expectations."

"Ziva I love you, no matter what you do, I will always love you."

"Love is a word you throw around lightly." She laughed tracing circles on the wood of the table.

"I will not ask anything else of you, but to be my daughter, I promise."

"Your promises are empty."

She looked up to find a hurt expression on his face.

"I am not coming back to Israel this is now my home this is where I live, where I work, where I fit." She said calmly.

"Is this to do with this, DiNozzo?" Eli could no longer hide behind a calm exterior, she was his daughter she was not going to disobey a direct order. Ziva stood up moving towards the drinks cabinet to pull out something stronger.

"What do you mean?" she placed a bottle of whiskey and two tumblers down.

"Do you love him is this why you are not leaving? Because Ziva it is not love, he is simply using you, and he will discard you as if you were nothing...he is not worth it...he does not really care...and what you feel is not...is not really love."

"And who are you to say? You have never loved, never cared for another human being in your life, you have used and discarded people without a second thought." Ziva snapped. She'd had enough, she'd heard enough.

"I'm trying to do what is best for you, you are blinded by your feelings let me be your voice of reason."

"No! You do not care, you do not love me. You used me. You used Tali. You used Ari. And Michael. Tony he truly cares, he risked his career to protect me from Michael. He risked his life to save me from Somalia while all you did was sit back and watch." Ziva was standing ready to fight, Eli stood up facing her.

"My hands were tied- " he began but Ziva cut him off.

"No they were not, you did not care then and you do not care now. Sometimes I wonder what my mother saw in you. You are cold and cruel."

Eli snapped, his slapped Ziva, square across the face. He'd never once in her life struck his daughter. Ari had been the one to deal the violent rages he would fly into. Tali and Ziva would take cover in the rooms being silent in the hope he would not notice them there. But there he was standing now all of these years later.

A tear rolled down Ziva's red cheek, she was silent and still. Eli stepped forwards trying to take his daughter into his arms but she pushed him back with all the force she had. Her hands were shaking, her step unbalanced and her lips trembling as tears swan down her face. She sat down and looked up at him, where his ring had caught her cheek bone was going to bruise.

"I never want to see you again. You are no longer my father. I do not have a father." her words were like daggers to him. But it was too late. He'd lost her. He placed his coat on his arm and walked out of the door with one last look at his daughter.

Heavy summer rain was falling on the streets when Ziva stepped out. She had not brought a coat and the water began to soak through her clothes and reach her skin. Walking she was oblivious to the world around her. Her cheek still burnt and her eyes were still blurred with tears. She knocked on Tony's door not knowing what to expect. She'd had enough of being strong she just needed to be weak.

Tony opened the door to find Ziva standing before him her hair in a dark mess around her shoulders, her clothes dripping with water and make up running in the raindrops. She looked more beautiful than ever. He reached out a hand pulling her inside, his carefully brushed his finger tips over the bruise that was building colour on her cheek. She melted into his arms, taking in his smell, his warmth burying her head into his shirt. Her eyelashes tickling his skin where the top buttons of his shirt were open.

She looked up at him, and Tony couldn't help it. He pushed her hair away from her face and planted his lips on hers. The kiss initially soft, he pecked at her lips slowly brushing them, but soon enough became more passionate as Ziva pulled him closer, until there was no space between them. Tony led them to the bedroom without stopping the kiss.

What were they doing?

Neither one of them stopped it.

Neither one of them wanted to.

Thank you so much for reading, this and reviewing it to you all.

Do you think there should be more after this?

Let me know!

B

x


	19. Chapter 19

Hello all,

This is not going to be a chapter I just wanted to leave a note to tell you what I think I'll be doing. Work has suddenly buried me (damn essays!), but I think there is more that can be done with this story in terms of Tony and Ziva's relationship. The way they both interpreted night together and how it'll affect their relationship.

What do you think?

Let me know

I'm sorry if I haven't responded to your reviews I've been meaning too but just haven't had the chance, but it really means a lot that you've all been reading,

Hope you're all well

B

x


End file.
